Supreme Court asks CBI to deal with Hindalco as per law

The diaries, allegedly containing details of payments made to government officials for clearing projects, and Rs 25 crore in cash were seized during a raid.Samanwaya Rautray | ET Bureau | October 13, 2015, 07:06 IST

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the CBI to deal as per law with the diaries and cash seized from an office of Hindalco Industries, whether they were related to coal block allocation cases or not.

The diaries, allegedly containing details of payments made to government officials for clearing projects, and Rs 25 crore in cash were seized during a raid.

The CBI later told the court that the recovery wasn't linked to the coal block cases.

A bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur, Kurian Joseph and AK Sikri said the evidence may not be linked to the coal cases, but left it to the CBI to act on it in accordance with law.

"It appears that CBI has received certain documents. We are not commenting whether those do disclose any offence," the court said.

But if it finds any offence, "we expect the CBI to act on such information in accordance with the law and the provisions of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure)", it added.

The court said it is not making any comments on whether an offence is made out or not, Hindalco lawyer Mahesh Agarwal later said.

"CBI has to examine the papers … It is expected to proceed in accordance with law."

The court direction came at the insistence of lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who argued that even though the diaries and cash recoveries may not be related to the coal cases, prima facie they showed the commission of other offences. Bhushan, appearing for NGO Common Cause, insisted that the CBI register an FIR and probe the case.

CBI senior lawyer Amarendra Sharan claimed that the diaries showed donations made by some trust to political parties across the board.

Earlier, the CBI had stated that it had handed over the cash and the alleged payoff diaries to the income tax department to probe for other violations of the law.

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